I am shopping for M3s and I am trying to get a sense for how much road salt exposure a DC/Maryland/Virginia car (2009 model year) would have seen over the last winters. How many times each winter do they salt in your metro-area?

i am not sure how you are trying to derive an answer from that. The answer is really going to vary and the only way to tell is by talking to the owner. If the owner never takes his/her car out of during storms/bad days then the question does not provide any good answers. Also, what if the guy went up to NY and PA many times and they have had worse winters than we did, how would you be able to figure that out from our winter.

What color is the car? I would suggest when you do a PPI, also have a detailer look and give you an evaluation as well as many/many detailed pix as you are looking to buy a car out of your area.

i am not sure how you are trying to derive an answer from that. The answer is really going to vary and the only way to tell is by talking to the owner. If the owner never takes his/her car out of during storms/bad days then the question does not provide any good answers. Also, what if the guy went up to NY and PA many times and they have had worse winters than we did, how would you be able to figure that out from our winter.

What color is the car? I would suggest when you do a PPI, also have a detailer look and give you an evaluation as well as many/many detailed pix as you are looking to buy a car out of your area.

Good luck.

The car is gray. You bring up good points about PA and NY. Unfortunately, the car is at a dealership so I won't be able to ask the owner any questions myself. Your idea about asking a detailer to take a look is excellent and I'll see if it is possible.

The reason I ask these questions is because I would be shipping the car back to California, and everyone out here (including me too, apparently) shuns cars with salt in their histories.

My prior car (a New England Evo) got pretty rusty on the shocks, rear differential, exhaust, and a fair bit of the engine compartment too. For those of you that do drive your M3s on salted roads, where does the M3 build rust?

Do they only salt when it actually snows? Or do they put down salt preemptively in other situations too?

prior to any project snow, the DMV typically sprays down a special chemical to combat accumulation; actual salting of roads doesn't happen unless we get a good amount of snow; again, i've been really upset with the snowfall the past 2 years; it's been very weak

everytime it's projected to snow or sleet...so about 4-5 times a winter.

Because the car won't be constantly exposed to road salt here, it's a non-issue, especially if you're not keeping the car past 100k miles...

Here's the thing, you're thinking WAY too much into this and unless this is a private sale, it's impossible to find your answer. How would you find out if this car was never driven in the winter and the owner had a 2nd winter-only car?

It's impossible for you to gauge the car's winter maintenance unless you know the owner. Someone like me would drive the car out with salt on the ground, but will do a underbody spray every week after the salt has been laid down, and this would be the type of owner you're looking for. In general, if the owner appears to be very anal about the appearance and maintenance of the car, then you should have some comfort level.

Here's the thing, you're thinking WAY too much into this and unless this is a private sale, it's impossible to find your answer.

Yes, you are right about me over thinking it. At this point I'll just assume if it is a DC area car it has seen some salt, and that if I want a completely salt-free car I should buy from a sunshine state.

Yes, you are right about me over thinking it. At this point I'll just assume if it is a DC area car it has seen some salt, and that if I want a completely salt-free car I should buy from a sunshine state.

sunshine state cars aren't that great either. Would you pick a car that's housed in a Florida car port instead of garage? What about a car in a desert area? etc etc etc etc

There's too much going on...just pick the car with proper maintenace records and mimium blemishes for the right price...unless of course you know the owner.

The dealer's asking price is $45,900, and for $4k they are willing to have the car CPO'ed.

It is a kind offer to check out the car in person, but don't want to waste anyone's time. I am still a few weeks out from being ready to purchase and I am not sure I want the hassle of getting a car on the far side of the country.

To open a different can of worms, what are the problems with Florida and desert cars?

ahh... the rare 8-speed transmission...lol, seriously some attention to detail would never hurt with these ads. Do you know what the sticker was on this car?

45.9 for a non-CPO is high for a 2009 (my browser keeps crashing, so I'm assuming it's in the $67k range sticker). I would try to walk out with $43k excluding shipping fees but including all dealer fees for a cash deal.

Yes, that sounds about the right to me too. I was thinking maybe $46k including the CPO. (I assume the CPO costs the dealer about $3300.)

there's an invoice for the cost to warranty as well. Just show up at your local dealer with the VIN and they can quote you.

You'll see the warranty costs (and features) are different if the car is in-warranty our out of warranty too when you purchase extended. Anyways, if it's a 2009 it likely either just off-warranty or about to expire, so I would get the details straight on this ASAP so you dont' miss any extend warranty opportunities. If the car is still in-warranty when you buy it, you have a window to seperately shop extended warranty offers from other dealers or to even sleep on the concept itself, so if this is the case, don't feel pressured to buy their extended warranty on the spot (or at lest try to negoitate a better deal since you are buying a car from them on a related transaction.)

there's an invoice for the cost to warranty as well. Just show up at your local dealer with the VIN and they can quote you.

You'll see the warranty costs (and features) are different if the car is in-warranty our out of warranty too when you purchase extended. Anyways, if it's a 2009 it likely either just off-warranty or about to expire, so I would get the details straight on this ASAP so you dont' miss any extend warranty opportunities. If the car is still in-warranty when you buy it, you have a window to seperately shop extended warranty offers from other dealers or to even sleep on the concept itself, so if this is the case, don't feel pressured to buy their extended warranty on the spot (or at lest try to negoitate a better deal since you are buying a car from them on a related transaction.)

good luck.

The car is still under-warranty (until June), so I have the BMW branded extended warranties as an option too. However, the last time I checked, they were actually more expensive than the CPO.